Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or an isotope into another chemical element. [1] Nuclear transmutation occurs in any process where the number of protons or neutrons in the nucleus of an atom is changed. A transmutation can be achieved either by nuclear reactions (in which an outside particle reacts with a nucleus ...
A popular source of the latter type is radioactive antimony-124 plus beryllium, a system with a half-life of 60.9 days, which can be constructed from natural antimony (which is 42.8% stable antimony-123) by activating it with neutrons in a nuclear reactor, then transported to where the neutron source is needed.
A fast neutron is a free neutron with a kinetic energy level close to 1 M eV (100 T J/kg), hence a speed of 14,000 km/s or higher. They are named fast neutrons to distinguish them from lower-energy thermal neutrons, and high-energy neutrons produced in cosmic showers or accelerators. Fast neutrons are produced by nuclear processes:
Aluminium can capture a neutron and generate radioactive sodium-24, which has a half life of 15 hours [9] [10] and a beta decay energy of 5.514 MeV. [ 11 ] The activation of a number of test target elements such as sulfur , copper, tantalum , and gold have been used to determine the yield of both pure fission [ 12 ] [ 13 ] and thermonuclear ...
Protons, a more stable particle, have long life spans, to the order of 10 to the power of 32 years, Singh said. Neutrons, on the other hand, live only an average 15 minutes. Typically, a neutron ...
The atomic binding energy is simply the amount of energy (and mass) released, when a collection of free nucleons are joined to form a nucleus. Nuclear binding energy can be computed from the difference in mass of a nucleus, and the sum of the masses of the number of free neutrons and protons that make up the nucleus.
This iron potassium cyanide compound acts as an ion-exchanger. The cyanide is so tightly bonded to the iron that it is safe for a human to eat several grams of Prussian blue per day. The Prussian blue reduces the biological half-life (different from the nuclear half-life) of the caesium. The physical or nuclear half-life of 137 Cs is about 30 ...
In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material that can undergo nuclear fission when struck by a neutron of low energy. [1] A self-sustaining thermal chain reaction can only be achieved with fissile material. The predominant neutron energy in a system may be typified by either slow neutrons (i.e., a thermal system) or fast neutrons.